Lady-Bot
My entry for a UT Austin robot competition sprint. This robot was made for navigating a maze using wall detection and line-following while transporting an item.
Each fall the Robotics and Automation Society hosts a "Robotathon" where small teams build and code a robot to compete in a series of maneuvering challenges. Lady-bot was the first robot I built in college and was an important accomplishment not just because it won third overall and "Best Mechanical Design" but because in 6 short weeks I took a pile of servos and wires and created something that could maneuver through a course of line following, wall sensing, and object collection.
Creating the Lady-bot allowed me to hone skills that were familiar to me such as CAD, 3d printing, and soldering, as well as new skills like using a TI breadboard and dealing with mechanical faults and repairs in motors and wheels. The servos controlling the wheels of Lady-bot were one of my biggest struggles as I was programming its movement. The servo on the right side of the robot would not fully stop spinning and the robot was always turning slightly to the left. I had to run several tests at various rotation speeds to figure out what speed the left servo needed to be adjusted to so that the wheels moved in unison.
While I would change things like the code and the ball collection method (small legs on the side of the robot kept ping pong balls on the court rolling with it), I learned so much in a short amount of time from this project.